Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.12.2015, Qupperneq 53

Sushi Samba
Þingholtsstræti 5 • 101 Reykjavík
Tel 568 6600 • sushisamba.is
Our kitchen is open
17.00–23.00 sun.–thu.
17.00–24.00 fri.–sat.
Amazing
7 course menu
A unique Icelandic Feast
Starts with a shot of the Icelandic
national spirit “Brennivín“
Puffin
Smoked puffin with blueberries,
croutons, goat cheese, beetroot
Minke whale
Date purée, wakame and teriaky
Arctic charr
“Torched“ arctic charr with parsnip
purée, fennel, dill mayo
Lobster
Lobster cigar with chorizo, dates, chili jam
Reindeer
Reindeer slider with blue cheese, portobello,
steamed bun
Free range icelandic lamb
Lamb with coriander, pickled red cabbage,
fennel, butternut squash purée, chimichurri
And to end on a high note ...
Icelandic Skyr
Skyr panna cotta with raspberry sorbet, white
chocolate crumble, passion foam, dulche de leche
7.590 kr.

When envisioning a classic Icelan-
dic Christmas buffet, one invariably
imagines the tables sagging under the
weight of roast legs of lamb, crackling
skin pork and all the traditional fixins,
the alcohol flowing freely as your
boisterous family takes turns embar-
rassing you.
While that classic, fatty, savoury,
meaty Icelandic Christmas buffet has
a lot going for it, local choices have
thankfully expanded greatly in recent
years. For instance, you can celebrate
the Advent by gorging on a Japanese-
Brazilian-themed Holiday menu. Look
no further than Sushi Samba if that’s
where your mind is at.
While sushi purists may be less
than thrilled with Sushi Samba’s
interpretation of sushi, the restau-
rant’s Christmas menu is nonetheless
a perfect introduction to the broad,
emerging cuisine which flowed from
the Brazilo-Japanese cultural melding
that followed a period of extensive
immigration from Japan. Something
that should suit grandmothers and
millennial nephews alike. Don’t miss
the maki rolls with graflax—Scandina-
vian sushi, if you will. You’ll enjoy both
the langoustine with a fruity salsa and
the lamb with a savoury red cabbage
gelée—glowing tributes to traditional
Icelandic festive food.
Sushi Samba know how to whip
up a festive fervour. SushiSamba also
have an extensive cocktail and sake
collection for those who are of the in-
clination. The place is cosy and works
very well for large groups, as well as
couples. Why not shake things up a bit
at Sushi Samba this Christmas.
The Christmas buffet at Fjörukráin, or
the Viking Restaurant, features all the
era-specific touches that one might
expect—servers bedecked in linen tu-
nics and fur pelts; wooden trays in lieu
of plates; a trio of minstrels weaving
amongst the guests—as well as some
rather more unanticipated delights:
namely, a buffet table shaped like a
longship that's helmed by none other
than Santa, sporting a pirate hat.
Ye Olde Kitschy Norse backdrop
notwithstanding, you'd be hard-
pressed to find a more classic (contem-
porary) Icelandic Christmas dinner.
The menu is a proper Greatest Hits
of Icelandic Holiday Fare: four kinds
of potatoes (caramelized potatoes,
potato salad, potatoes au gratin, and—
of course—potatoes with bechamel
sauce or “uppstúfur” as it’s known
locally); hangikjöt (smoked lamb) and
laufabrauð (traditional fried cakes with
geometric shapes); Christmas ham;
red cabbage; canned Ora green peas;
reindeer meatballs for flair; and several
varieties of pickled herring—one in a
festive pink brine.
Crowding the long tables are
coworkers out for their year-end fetes,
getting cheerfully hammered and
joining in rambunctious singalongs;
families wearing their holiday finest;
and the odd foreigner to round it out.
Playing underneath it all—when the
minstrels are on break, that is—is a
soundtrack of everyone's favorite
Icelandic Christmas songs from the
80s, ranging from pretty direct transla-
tions of American holiday tunes (“Ég
sá mömmu kyssa jólasvein”/“I saw
momma kissing Santa Claus”) to the
more idiosyncratic “Ef ég nenni” (“If I
feel like it”). Close your eyes, and you'll
think you're back at amma's house.
Þingholtsstræti 5,
101 Reykjavik
Tel: +354 568 6600
www.sushisamba.is
www.facebook.com/SushiSambaR-
eykjavik
Price for Christmas buffet: 7,900 ISK
(drinks not included)
CHRISTMAS BUFFETS:
Sushi Samba
CHRISTMAS BUFFETS:
Fjörukráin
Strandgata 55
220 Hafnarfjörður
birna@vikingvillage.is
fjorukrain.is
Tel: +354 565-1213
Buffet runs until 20 December, 2015.
Open from 6pm til late.
Price for Christmas buffet: 8,600ISK /
person (drinks not included)
By Ragnar Egilsson
By Shruthi Basappa
By Larissa Kyzer
21
SKY
SUSHI SAMBA